Students learn to socialize without alcohol

Aug. 17, 2001

KALAMAZOO -- A social mentoring program for the quiet majority
of incoming WMU students who don't plan to make alcohol the mainstay
of their social life while in college is entering its third year.
Students Socializing Sober or S-3 is funded through a grant from
the Michigan Department of Community Health with support from
the Prevention Network, a nationwide nonprofit agency.

The program features student-led activities and provides a
network of supportive peers for first-year college students who
want to socialize without the use of alcohol--a group that is
getting increasingly militant about the public's misperception
of the level of campus drinking. Part of a unique statewide initiative,
it matches incoming students with upper-class peers who mentor
them in their first month of school. The mentors assist the new
students in their transition to college living, introduce them
to social activities that don't involve drinking and help them
meet new people. S-3 targets freshmen who aren't into the drinking
scene, catching them at a critical time in their college careers
and helping to orient them toward an alcohol-free college career.

Special events planned include a kick-off picnic from 5:30
to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 29, at the Goldsworth Valley Pond,
a Hawaii on Ice skating party and two murder mystery theater
productions. At each event, there will be drawings for prizes
such as a DVD player, combination TV-VCR, discman and mountain
bike. In addition, small groups of S-3 mentors and participants
compete during the month-long program for participation points,
with the groups that earn the most points winning a day trip
to Cedar Point.

WMU works with high school counselors across Michigan to encourage
incoming first-year students to take part in the program. They
and their parents received S-3 materials at summer orientation,
and all incoming freshmen received a program description and
registration form in the mail.

For more information, contact Victor Manzon in the Department
of Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention at 616 387-2260.